Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Pauli, Wolfgang

(Encyclopedia)Pauli, Wolfgang vôlfˈgäng pouˈlē [key], 1900–1958, Austro-American physicist, b. Vienna. He studied first with A. Sommerfeld at Munich and then with Niels Bohr at Copenhagen. After lecturing (1...

Faust

(Encyclopedia)Faust yōˈhän [key], fl. 16th cent., learned German doctor who traveled widely, performed magical feats, and died under mysterious circumstances. According to legend he had sold his soul to the devi...

Berlichingen, Götz von

(Encyclopedia)Berlichingen, Götz von götsˈ fən bĕrˈlĭkhĭng-ən [key], 1480–1562, German knight and adventurer. The head of a band of free soldiers, he lost (1504) his right hand in the battle of Landshut ...

Bartsch, Adam von

(Encyclopedia)Bartsch, Adam von (Johann Adam Bernhard von Bartsch) äˈdäm fən bärch [key], 1757–1821, Austrian engraver, etcher, and writer. His critical catalog, Le Peintre Graveur (21 vol., 1803–21), is s...

Bernstorff, Johann Heinrich, Graf von

(Encyclopedia)Bernstorff, Johann Heinrich, Graf von bĕrnsˈtôrf [key], 1862–1939, German diplomat. As ambassador to the United States (1908–17), he tried to conciliate American feelings toward Germany and re...

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

(Encyclopedia)Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus mōtˈsärt, Ger. vôlfˈgäng ämädāˈo͝os mōˈtsärt, 1756–91, Austrian composer, b. Salzburg. Mozart represents one of the great peaks in the history of music. His wo...

classicism

(Encyclopedia)classicism, a term that, when applied generally, means clearness, elegance, symmetry, and repose produced by attention to traditional forms. It is sometimes synonymous with excellence or artistic qual...

Overbeck, Johann Friedrich

(Encyclopedia)Overbeck, Johann Friedrich yōˈhän frēˈdrĭkh oˈvərbĕk [key], 1789–1869, German religious painter. Expelled from the Vienna Academy because of his opposition to its classicism, he went to Rom...

Baeyer, Adolf von

(Encyclopedia)Baeyer, Adolf von (Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer) äˈdôlf fən bāˈyər; yōhänˈ frēˈdrĭkh vĭlˈhĕlm [key], 1835–1917, German chemist. He taught at Berlin and Strasbourg and in...

Browse by Subject